Dr. Suttle is one of the World's leading marine virologists, and is among a small group of researchers that is credited with launching the field of marine virology nearly twenty years ago. These studies demonstrated that viruses are not only the most abundant and genetically diverse biological entities in the World's oceans, but they are major agents of mortality. The results have had a significant impact on our understanding of nutrient and energy flow in the oceans, and have been a catalyst in the re-invigoration of phage biology and environmental virology. His contributions cross over many fields including biological oceanography, environmental microbiology, microbial ecology, virology and phycology.

Dr. Suttle was an Associate Professor (1996 – 2000), Professor (since 2000), and Associate Dean of Science (since 2001) at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia. He received his B.Sc. in zoology in 1978 and his Ph.D. in botany in 1987, both from UBC. His career has taken him to government laboratories and academic institutions in Canada, the United States, and Germany, with a significant amount of time (1988 – 1996) at the University of Texas at Austin.